PROFESSIONUnion-organizing doctor sues over firingIn the Courts. By Tanya Albert, amednews staff. Aug. 11, 2003. A California obstetrician-gynecologist with more than 20 years of experience says he was first under fire and then out of a job for organizing a union at a county hospital. Employed physicians are allowed to unionize under federal law. But David Gran, MD, says his employer -- San Joaquin County -- didn't like the activity and in 2001 started scrutinizing his work in a way they had never scrutinized anyone's work before. The watchful eye, he says, led to untrue charges of poor patient care. That in turn, he says, led to an end of his contract with the county and black marks in the National Practitioners Data Bank. "I wouldn't hire me based on what is in there," Dr. Gran says. But he says none of it is true. He's turned to the courts for some retribution for the personal and professional damage he said he's suffered. It has been -- and will continue to be -- a long, tedious process. So far, an administrative law judge and judges for the State of California Public Employment Relations Board have sided with Dr. Gran. They say San Joaquin County, which employed the physician since 1994, retaliated against him because of union activity. But the question is now on appeal to the California Court of Appeal. In addition to deciding whether the county trumped up problems with Dr. Gran's patient care, one question the court could address is this: If the court steps in to reinstate Dr. Gran or remove marks from his record, is the court interfering with the independent medical staff process? [...]Full text of American Medical News content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2003 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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